Jalaluddin Haqqani

Jalaluddin Haqqani (born 1939) was the Minister of Justice of the Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1995 andMinister of Borders, Minister of Tribal Affairs, and Governor of Paktia Province from 1996 to 2001,. Currently, he is the leader of the Afghan Haqqani Network, a network of Mujahideen fighters that fought both the Soviet Union and United States forces that occupied the country.

Biography
Haqqani was born in Paktia Province in 1939, although some estimates put his birthdate around 1950. Born to the Zadran tribe of Khost, Haqqani's father was a wealthy landowner and trader. In the 1970s he aided in the revolution that ousted the King (1973 Saur Revolution) and fought the revolution against the new government by a Soviet Union-backed communist government. In the 1980s he fought the Soviets in the Soviet-Afghan War, and US Congressman Charlie Wilson, who argued for US involvement in the war on the side of the rebels, said that he was "goodness personified".

When Mohammed Najibullah's government was left to fend for itself after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, Haqqani captured Khost in 1991 and Kabul in 1992. However, in the ensuing Afghan Civil War he remained neutral as Justice Minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. He earned respect for his neutrality, but in 1995 he joined the Taliban and became Minister of Borders and Minister of Tribal Affairs in the new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as well as the Governor of Paktia Province.

In 2001, despite pleas by the United States to leave the Taliban, Haqqani bravely announced that it was his duty as a Muslim to defend his home country against invasion. He was responsible for aiding in the escape of Osama bin Laden to Pakistan, where Haqqani fled shortly after. In 2008, Americans found out that Haqqani had a deal with Pakistani ISI.